Britain acted illegally when it imposed territorial controls on the Chagos Islands without the consent of Mauritius, a UN judgment claims. The ruling may hinder US operations in Diego Garcia, where it holds an airbase on lease from the British.

The UN ruling also accuses Britain of ignoring the rights of
Mauritius – which claims the islands as its own. Declaring the
remote Indian Ocean archipelago a marine protected area (MPA) has
damaged the fishing industry in surrounding waters, Mauritius
claims.

The British Labour government of the time is accused of forcing
through the MPA measure to strengthen its hand in the impending
election.

“The UK has not been able to provide any convincing
explanation for the urgency with which it proclaimed the MPA on 1
April 2010,” the ruling states.

The speed of the decision was “dictated by the electoral
timetable in the United Kingdom or an anticipated change of
government,” it was found.

“Not only did the United Kingdom proceed on the flawed basis
that Mauritius had no fishing rights in the territorial sea of
the Chagos archipelago, it presumed to conclude – without ever
confirming with Mauritius – that the MPA was in Mauritius’
interest.”

The issue was addressed by a panel of five judges serving on the
permanent court of arbitration, based in The Hague.

While three judges ruled the tribunal lacked the authority to
adjudicate the issue, two ruled that, prior to the UK general
election in 2010 and at the point of the territory's creation in
1965, “British and American defense interests were put above
Mauritius’s rights.”

The Mauritian government maintains its own sovereign claim,
arguing the islands were effectively stolen by Britain in
contravention of a UN resolution that segments of decolonizing
nations could not simply be detached by the departing colonial
power.

The Mauritian claim was succored by the ruling, which found that
“The United Kingdom’s undertaking to return the Chagos
archipelago to Mauritius gives Mauritius an interest in
significant decisions that bear upon the possible future uses of
the archipelago.

“Mauritius’ interest is not simply in the eventual return of
Chagos archipelago, but also in the condition in which the
archipelago will be returned.”

The move will be welcomed by displaced former residents of the
Chagos Islands, who were forced from of their homes by the
British in the 1960s to make way for the current US base.

Diego Garcia has repeatedly made headlines over allegations that
US extraordinary rendition flights were routed through the
airbase.